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| United States Patent |
5,657,689
|
|
Lee
|
August 19, 1997
|
Franking machine system
Abstract
A franking machine system is disclosed in which a signal is transmitted for
reception only in a predetermined location. A franking machine intended to
be operated at the predetermined location is inoperative to carry out
franking operations unless it receives the signal transmitted to the
predetermined location. Accordingly a franking machine intended for
operation at the predetermined location cannot be operated for franking
mail if it is moved away from that location.
| Inventors:
|
Lee; Daniel John (Warley, GB)
|
| Assignee:
|
Neopost Limited (Essex, GB)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
575325 |
| Filed:
|
December 20, 1995 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Current U.S. Class: |
101/91; 705/410 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B41L 047/56; G06F 017/00 |
| Field of Search: |
101/91
364/404.02
395/186
235/375,380,381
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 4933849 | Jun., 1990 | Connell et al. | 364/400.
|
| 4987406 | Jan., 1991 | Reid | 340/539.
|
| 5202834 | Apr., 1993 | Gilham | 364/464.
|
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 0376574 | Jul., 1990 | EP.
| |
| 1580416 | Dec., 1980 | GB.
| |
Other References
European Patent Application, Great Britian, Application No.: 95300564.2
Aug. 1995.
|
Primary Examiner: Funk; Stephen R.
Assistant Examiner: Ghatt; Dave A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shoemaker and Mattare, Ltd.
Claims
I claim:
1. A franking machine system including:
signal generation means; and
a franking machine;
said franking machine including
signal receiving means;
electronic accounting and control means responsive to said signal receiving
means;
printing means operable by said electronic accounting and control means to
print on a mail item; and
signal receiving means;
said signal generation means generating and continuously transmitting by
wireless communication a predetermined signal during a period of time and
said receiving means being operative to receive said predetermined signal
transmitted by said signal generation means when said franking machine is
located within a predetermined location relative to said signal generation
means;
said electronic accounting and control means being operable to initiate a
franking operation and operable to complete said franking operation only
during said period of time and if said predetermined signal is received by
said receiving means to perform a franking operation in which said
electronic accounting and control means carries out accounting functions
in respect of a postage charge for a mail item and operates said printing
means to print on the mail item.
2. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
predetermined signal transmitted by the signal generation means includes
an encrypted data message.
3. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the franking
machine includes transmitter means operable to transmit a machine signal
and the signal generation means is initiated to transmit the predetermined
signal in response to receipt of said machine signal from said franking
machine.
4. A franking machine system including:
signal generation means; and
a franking machine;
said franking machine including
signal receiving means;
electronic accounting and control means responsive to said signal receiving
means;
printing means operable by said electronic accounting and control means to
print on a mail item; and
signal receiving means;
said signal generation means generating and continuously transmitting by
wireless communication a predetermined signal during a period of time and
said receiving means being operative to receive said predetermined signal
transmitted by said signal generation means when said franking machine is
located within a predetermined location relative to said signal generation
means;
said electronic accounting and control means being operative in a power up
routine carried out during said period of time to check that said
predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means and Raid
electronic accounting and control means being operative in response to
receipt of said predetermined signal by said receiving means to complete
said power up routine and being operable thereafter to perform franking
operations in which said electronic accounting and control means carries
out accounting functions in respect of postage charges for mail items and
operates said printing means to print on the mail items.
5. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the
predetermined signal transmitted by the signal generation means includes
an encrypted data message.
6. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the franking
machine includes transmitter means operable to transmit a machine signal
and the signal generation means is initiated to transmit the predetermined
signal in response to receipt of said machine signal from said franking
machine.
7. A franking machine system including:
signal generation means; and
a franking machine;
said franking machine including
signal receiving means;
electronic accounting and control means responsive to said signal receiving
means;
printing means operable by said electronic accounting and control means to
print on a mail item; and
signal receiving means;
said signal generation means generating and continuously transmitting by
wireless communication a predetermined signal during a period of time and
said receiving means being operative to receive said predetermined signal
transmitted by said signal generation means when said franking machine is
located within a predetermined location relative to said signal generation
means;
said electronic accounting and control means being operable to initiate a
franking operation in respect of a mail item and to carry out a check to
determine that the predetermined signal is being received by said
receiving means and only if said predetermined signal is being received by
said receiving means to complete said franking operation by carrying out
accounting functions in respect of a postage charge for the mail item and
operating said printing means to print on the mail item whereby said
franking machine is operable to perform franking operations only when said
predetermined signal is transmitted during said period of time and only
when said predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means.
8. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the electronic
accounting and control means is inhibited from completion of a first
franking operation and performing further franking operations after
initiation of the first franking operation and the check in the first
franking operation determines that the predetermined signal is not being
received.
9. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the
predetermined signal transmitted by the signal generation means includes
an encrypted data message.
10. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the franking
machine includes transmitter means operable to transmit a machine signal
and the signal generation means is initiated to transmit the predetermined
signal in response to receipt of said machine signal from said franking
machine.
11. A franking machine system including:
signal generation means; and
a franking machine;
said franking machine including
signal receiving means;
electronic accounting and control means responsive to said signal receiving
means;
printing means operable by said electronic accounting and control means to
print on a mail item; and
signal receiving means;
said signal generation means generating and continuously transmitting by
wireless communication a predetermined signal during a period of time and
said receiving means being operative to receive said predetermined signal
transmitted by said signal generation means when said franking machine is
located within a predetermined location relative to said signal generation
means;
said electronic accounting and control means being operable during said
period of time to initiate a first franking operation in respect of a
first mail item and to carry out a check to determine that the
predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means and only if
said predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means to
complete said first franking operation by carrying out accounting
functions in respect of a postage charge for the first mail item and
operating said printing means print on the first mail and
said electronic accounting and control means further being operable during
said period of time to initiate a second franking operation in respect of
a second mail item and to carry out the check to determine that the
predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means and only if
said predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means to
complete said second franking operation by carrying out accounting
functions in respect of a postage charge for the second mail item and
operating said printing means to print on the second mail whereby said
franking machine is operable to perform franking operations only when said
predetermined signal is transmitted during said period of time and only
when said predetermined signal is being received by said receiving means.
12. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the
predetermined signal transmitted by the signal generation means includes
an encrypted data message.
13. A franking machine system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the franking
machine includes transmitter means operable to transmit a machine signal
and the signal generation means is initiated to transmit the predetermined
signal in response to receipt of said machine signal from said franking
machine.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to franking machines and in particular relates to
controlling use of such machines.
Franking machines are utilised to frank items of mail by printing on the
mail item a franking impression indicating that a postage charge for the
item has been accounted for. Often franking machines operate in a
pre-payment mode in which a value of credit is stored in a register of the
franking machine and as a part of each operation to frank an item, the
credit value is decremented by an amount equal to a postage charge for the
item. Other registers of the franking machines are usually provided to
maintain for example a total value of postage charge dispensed by the
franking machine, the number of items franked and the number of items
franked with a postage charge greater than a predetermined value.
When permitted by a postal authority, franking machines may be operated in
a post-payment mode. In a post payment mode of operation the franking
machine maintains an account of postage value used in franking mail items
with postage charges and periodically the accounting data in the registers
of the franking machine is provided to the postal authority and the user
is billed in accordance with the accounting data for postage value used in
the preceding time period. In order to ensure that the postal authority
receives payments at substantially regular intervals for postage value
used, the franking machine may be caused to lock at predetermined time
periods or upon completion of a predetermined number of franking cycles.
Use of a franking machine by a user is licensed by the appropriate postal
authority under conditions determined by the postal authority. These
conditions usually include inter alia that the franking machine will be
used only at a specifically authorised location. However since franking
machines are relatively small machines they are relatively easily
transported and may be removed from the authorised location to be used at
another unauthorised location where attempts may be made to operate the
franking machine in a fraudulent manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention a franking machine system includes a franking
machine for carrying out printing of franking impressions indicating
postage charge on mail items; said franking including machine electronic
means for carrying out accounting functions to account for postage charge
and for carrying out control functions of the franking machine; and
receiving means operative to receive a wireless signal; and the franking
machine system further includes transmission means to transmit a
predetermined signal; said electronic means of the franking machine being
operative in response to receipt of said predetermined signal by the
receiving means to carry out a franking operation to frank a mail item and
being inoperative to carry out a franking operation when the predetermined
signal is not received.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
An embodiment of the invention will be described hereinafter with reference
by way of example to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of a franking machine in accordance with
the invention, and
FIG. 2 illustrates a system for enabling a postal authority to monitor and
control use of a franking machine.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIG. 1, the franking machine includes a micro-processor
10 operating under program routines stored in a read only memory (ROM) 11.
A keyboard 12 is provided for input of data by a user and a display 13 is
provided to enable display of information to the user. A random access
memory (RAM) 14 acts as a working store for storage of temporary data
during operation of the franking machine. Non-volatile duplicated memories
15, 16 store data which is required to be retained even when the franking
machine is not powered. Accounting data relating to use of the franking
machine for printing franking representing postage charges for mail items
and any other critical data to be retained is stored in the non-volatile
memories 15, 16. A motor controller 17 is controlled by the microprocessor
to control operation of motors for driving means (not shown) for feeding
mail items past a thermal print head 18 and for winding a thermal transfer
ink ribbon onto a take-up spool. Sensors 19 are provided to sense and
monitor feeding of the mail item and of the ink ribbon. The sensors
provide signals to the microprocessor to enable the microprocessor to
control operation of the machine. For example a sensor is provided to
indicate the speed of feeding of the mail item along the feed bed to
enable the microprocessor to control speed of drive of a motor driving the
impression roller such that the feed speed is maintained substantially
constant. As the mail item is fed past the thermal printing elements of
the print head, the microprocessor outputs, on line 20, to the print head
in each of a plurality of printing cycles signals selecting those ones of
the printing elements which are to be energised in the respective cycle. A
pulse of electrical power is supplied to the selected thermal printing
elements from a power source 21 when a strobe signal, on line 22, is
supplied by the microprocessor. As is well known those parts of the
franking machine concerned with carrying out accounting and control
functions in relation to franking of mail items are housed in a secure
housing to prevent unauthorised access thereto. The general construction
and operation of franking machines is well known and accordingly it is
believed to be unnecessary to describe the franking machine in further
detail. It will be appreciated that although the franking machine is
described hereinbefore as having a thermal print head, other means, well
known in the franking machine art, of printing a franking impression may
be provided and for example the franking impression may be printed by
means of print elements carried on a rotatable print drum.
In order to enable the postal authority to exert some control over use of
the franking machine, a form of dongle is Used by providing a
communication link between a transmitter/receiver 23 in the franking
machine 30.sub.1 and a postal authority center 31 (see FIG. 2). It is
preferred that the communication be effected by means of radio frequency
transmission between the franking machine 30.sub.1 and a secure unit 32
installed in or near the user's premises. The transmitter/receiver 23 is
connected to an antenna 24 and secure unit is provided with an antenna 35.
The secure unit 32 may have the form of a secure safe like housing secured
to a wall of the users premises and be connected to a telephone line 33
whereby communication with the secure unit may be effected by means of the
telephone network 34. When there is only one franking machine 30.sub.1 in
an area, a separate secure unit 32 is provided for each franking machine
to be linked with the postal authority center. However when a number of
franking machines 30.sub.1 . . . 30.sub.n are located in a user's premises
a single secure unit may communicate with all of those franking machines.
Also when franking machines used by different user's are located in an
area of such size that radio communication may be obtained with each of
those franking machines a single secure unit disposed at a central
location of that area may suffice to enable communication between all of
those franking machines and the postal authority center.
Operation of each franking machine is dependent upon a predetermined
communication between the franking machine and the secure unit. The
predetermined communication may comprise reception, by the franking
machine of a predetermined signal from the secure unit. The communication
may be substantially continuous or may be at predetermined time periods.
For example the secure unit may transmit continuously and the franking
machine may be operated such that during each franking operation, prior to
accounting for a postage charge for an item and prior to printing a
franking impression on the item, the microprocessor of the franking
machine carries out a check to determine that the predetermined signal
transmitted by the secure unit is being received. If the predetermined
signal is being received the microprocessor continues with the franking
operation otherwise if the predetermined signal is not received the
microprocessor is inhibited from continuing the franking operation. The
microprocessor may be programmed to permit a limited number of attempts to
carry out franking operations and if the predetermined signal is not
received in that limited number of attempts the franking machine is locked
and operation thereof remains inhibited until reset by an authorised
service engineer. Instead of checking for receipt of the predetermined
signal in each franking operation, the franking machine may be operated to
carry out this check during a power up routine, failure to receive the
signal inhibiting completion of the power up routine.
Preferably the predetermined signal transmitted by the secure unit
comprises or includes an encrypted data message such that even if the
radio transmission is intercepted and monitored the messages could not
easily be decoded and therefore it would be difficult to attempt to
emulate the predetermined signal. Additional security may be provided by
changing the encrypted data message at intervals, the changing of the
encrypted data message being effected for example each day. Alternatively
if the communication between the secure unit and the franking machine
includes transmission of messages from the franking machine to the secure
unit, the changing of the encrypted data message may be effected as a
function of data generated in the franking machine, for example items
count.
Instead of transmitting the predetermined signal continuously, the signal
may be transmitted for predetermined periods only and the franking machine
is operated to check receipt of the signal only during each predetermined
period.
The communication between the secure unit and the franking machine may
comprise merely a transmission of a predetermined signal from the secure
unit continuously or in predetermined periods as described hereinbefore.
However a more complex mode of communication may be employed in which at
least one transmission from the secure unit to the franking machine and
from the franking machine to the secure unit is required. Transmission of
the predetermined signal by the secure unit may be initiated by a
transmission of a signal from the franking machine.
If desired the secure unit may be provided with a lock operated switch
whereby operation of the secure unit to transmit the predetermined signal
may be inhibited by a user of the franking machine. Thus the user could
inhibit operation of the franking machine when the user is absent from the
premises to prevent any use of the franking machine which is not
authorised by the user. Also if desired the secure unit may be provided
with means to inhibit operation of the secure unit to transmit the
predetermined signal after elapse of a predetermined time whereby the
franking machine may be used for that predetermined time and is then
inhibited from further operation until the secure unit is reset by an
authorised service engineer. Alternatively, with the secure unit connected
to the postal authority center by the telephone network, the postal
authority may reset the secure unit remotely to permit further use of the
franking machine for a further predetermined time.
With the secure unit in communication with the postal authority center, the
postal authority may send at any desired time a signal to the secure unit
inhibiting further operation of the franking machine.
It will be understood that, unless the franking machine receives the
predetermined signal from the secure unit, the franking machine is
non-operational and cannot be used to dispense postage value in franking
mail items. Accordingly if the franking machine is removed from the
vicinity in which the predetermined signal can be received the franking
machine cannot be used. Preferably the predetermined signal is different
for each franking machine thereby preventing use of the franking machine
in another location in the vicinity of another secure unit. If desired,
the franking machine may be required to transmit a signal in response to
receipt of the predetermined signal whereby the secure unit is aware that
the franking machine is in the correct authorised location. The secure
unit may be operated if no acknowledgement signal is received thereby to
send a message via the telephone network to the postal authority
indicating that the franking machine is not at the authorised location.
While communication between the franking machine and the secure unit has
been described hereinbefore as being effected by means of a radio
frequency link, it will be appreciated that other wireless communication
may be used, for example infra-red. Radio frequency or infra-red
communication may be effected without breach of the secure housing of the
franking machine or of the secure unit.
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